Page 21 of Broken Dreams

Months of rehab, lying in his bed writhing in agony with no one to turn to other than the nurse currently assigned to him, had changed his whole perception of life. In his current condition, thrill seeking lacked appeal.

Not that he'd gone skydiving from planes, or bungee jumping off cliffs, but his entire lifestyle, from the time he had been a kid, had been that of a nomad moving restlessly from one place to another, always seeking something new.

In truth, he was tired of wandering from place to place. The one thing he'd longed for during the time of his injury recovery had been something he'd never had. Home. A family. A partner to share his life with.

For a brief moment upon crossing the threshold of the Monroe household, he'd imagined he'd found what he'd been looking for. He'd grown to care about Amber through her letters, but seeing her in person had been like touching a live wire. She radiated positive energy in a way he envied. Under different circumstances, he'd be more than a little tempted to push for something more. He couldn't get close to her without wanting to kiss her. Yet they both stood on opposite ends of the spectrum as far as their personal lives were concerned.

He had no future as a surgeon, no idea what he'd do with the rest of his life.

Amber had a wonderful career as a nurse, giving each of her patients the very best care possible. She’d devoted much of her time to her family, while Nick had only lived to please himself.

Here in Milwaukee, Nick had finally felt as if he'd come home.

While Amber had one foot out the door, ready to embark on her next adventure.

“Are you finished for the day?” He met Amber’s gaze when finally dropped into a chair behind the nurse's station. She’d been on her feet far more than he had been. He should have been as weary as she looked, but performing hospitalist consults on the various rehab patients had taken his mind off his own problems. So far, he hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary with any of the patient’s medical care. Which was a good thing.

“I think so.” She sighed. “Mr. Fischer was taken from the CT scanner to the interventional radiology suite for another procedure to remove the clot causing his stroke symptoms. From there he's being transferred to the ICU. That makes two ICU transfers in the nine days. Highly unusual for us.”

“Hey, it's not your fault.” He resisted the urge to smooth a stray strand of her reddish blonde hair from her cheek. She looked tired, worn out, especially after her interaction with Roland. She'd been so busy taking care of everyone else, maybe it was time for someone to take care of her? He cleared his throat. “Do you have plans for this evening?” Smooth, Tanner. Really smooth.

She didn't seem to notice his poor transition from the professional to the personal. “This was supposed to be my day off.” She grimaced and glanced at her watch. “Thankfully, my shift today is considered overtime.”

“How would you like to go out for dinner? Someplace special, like DiCarlo’s downtown.”

A flare of pleasure lit her gaze, then almost instantly faded. “Thanks, but I'm pretty tired. It's been a long day.”

The way her gaze slid from his convinced him she was lying through her teeth. As if she'd wanted to go to dinner then had made-up the old, I'm-too-tired excuse. Clearly the problem was that she didn't want to go with him.

His fault, for sending mixed signals. In fact, his signals were so jumbled it was as if they'd been strewn throughout his body by a tornado. They wanted different things from life, but maybe just for tonight they could find a way to meet in the middle. For some reason, he just couldn't quite let her go. Besides, he wanted a chance to ask her a little more about Roland. As long as they kept things friendly, what was the harm?

She was messing with his head, but he didn't care. He swallowed a self-depreciating grimace. So much for thinking he'd given up his thrill-seeking behavior.

“Please?” Nick kept his voice low, although there wasn't anyone else around to overhear them. “You deserve a nice dinner after the day you've put in.”

She arched her brow. “Is that the only reason I should go?”

“No. You should come because I enjoy spending time with you.” Admitting the bald truth wasn't as hard as he'd thought. Besides, whether she realized it or not, between her family and work, she needed an evening away. And he wanted to be the guy sharing it with her.

She was quiet for so long he figured he'd struck out. Again.

“Just to be clear, you're asking me out? Like on a date?” She toyed with the simple gold crucifix hanging around her neck.

“Yes.” He swallowed hard. When she stated the word so bluntly, he felt nervous. When was the last time he'd had a date? He couldn't remember. The women in his past were a total blur. “I'll pick you up at seven.”

“You don't have a car,” she protested.

“Seven,” he repeated. “Don't worry about me, just be ready to go at seven.”

“All right.” She stood, a hesitant smile tugging at her mouth. “I guess I'll see you later, then.”

He nodded then forced himself to leave. But as he walked back to his motel room across the street, the swell of anticipation made his heart race. He placed a hand over the center of his chest and pressed hard. Cool it, Tanner. You're treating Amber to a nice dinner because she deserves it. Keep things light and friendly and you'll do fine.

He could only hope the stern lecture prevented him from doing something he would regret. Like kissing her again.

Amber had the whole house to herself. She did a little dance as she headed up the stairs. Because of her last minute call in to work, her sister Andrea had invited her parents to have dinner at her house. Adam was on call. Alec was doing some sort of special SWAT team training. Thankfully none of her annoying siblings were around to ply her with questions about her plans for the evening.

At times like this, she really, really missed her apartment. Even with Alec living one floor above her. Still, helping her parents wasn't the end of the world. Only a few more weeks until she was out on her own again.

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